Registered

As for details I'm taking off everything but the doors, the body is straight as an arrow less one small dent in the rear quarter that will be fixed, the hood has rock chips and that is getting primed and sanded.

Here are some pics from about 20 minutes ago, the roof is done, the trunk, mirrors rocker panels, window felts and door trim are all off sanded and await tomorrow for the other color which I am not telling yet.

Registered

The paint on the roof has dried and I have the paper off, today I wet sanded the entire car, tomorrow I start on fixing the one dent and the rock chips on the hood, hopfuly I can get some color on it by next week.

Moderator

How did you snap-off the two moldings on-top of the roof near the doors. I need to repaint a W140 very soon, and the molding is similar on most benz's

Reasearcher,

I've painted many cars and used PPG and Dupont paint systems; I have to say the Dupont Cromabase is the best for the DIY'er for easy to use, but today these two paint systems ar ridiculously expensive!! When I was in my prime painting cars in the 90's the Hot Rodders were using both paint systems, but now it is not the case. Now its $1200 to $1600 for a complete paint system (gallon of primer(s), base coat, and clear including reducers and paint activators). Not cheap for the blue-collar worker to paint her/his car.

The hot rodders know where the deals are when it comes to automotive paint because they are the only ones really doing it. Here is a cost effective, yet quality paint system for a third or a quarter of the cost the two brand names:

The top moldings just snap off, I used a trim removal tool to get it started at one end, once you get it lifted you can see where the clips are and lift from each of those points, mine are about 6-8" apart.

Registered

How did you snap-off the two moldings on-top of the roof near the doors. I need to repaint a W140 very soon, and the molding is similar on most benz's

Reasearcher,

I've painted many cars and used PPG and Dupont paint systems; I have to say the Dupont Cromabase is the best for the DIY'er for easy to use, but today these two paint systems ar ridiculously expensive!! When I was in my prime painting cars in the 90's the Hot Rodders were using both paint systems, but now it is not the case. Now its $1200 to $1600 for a complete paint system (gallon of primer(s), base coat, and clear including reducers and paint activators). Not cheap for the blue-collar worker to paint her/his car.

The hot rodders know where the deals are when it comes to automotive paint because they are the only ones really doing it. Here is a cost effective, yet quality paint system for a third or a quarter of the cost the two brand names:

Premium Member

I'm not sure about Kirker, I know people who've used it and it's harder to deal with. The base is more like single stage with a clear coat added.

Both dupont and ppg have a budget line which is considerably cheaper then their regular line.

The dupont line is: Nason
The PPG line is: OMNI

For the most part, the difference is not in the quality, but it's in their ability to match. Paints like Chromobase are used by collision repair facilities to paint fenders and quarter panels. Because of this, they need to match 100% with the original paint. As a side effect of this, the paint is usually sold by the pint which makes it expensive.

You would use Nason to paint a whole car so it's usually sold by the gallon and is considerably cheaper. I can get a gallon of base, gallon of clear, gallon of reducer and a quart of hardener in the Nason line for about $300-400.

Registered

I'm not sure about Kirker, I know people who've used it and it's harder to deal with. The base is more like single stage with a clear coat added.

Both dupont and ppg have a budget line which is considerably cheaper then their regular line.

The dupont line is: Nason
The PPG line is: OMNI

For the most part, the difference is not in the quality, but it's in their ability to match. Paints like Chromobase are used by collision repair facilities to paint fenders and quarter panels. Because of this, they need to match 100% with the original paint. As a side effect of this, the paint is usually sold by the pint which makes it expensive.

You would use Nason to paint a whole car so it's usually sold by the gallon and is considerably cheaper. I can get a gallon of base, gallon of clear, gallon of reducer and a quart of hardener in the Nason line for about $300-400.

Registered

Thanks for the advice on paints, I to sold DuPont, R & M and Standox before working in the body shop business years ago. With my car I am using Standox paint but not going back with a Mercedes color.
The roof is a Hyundai pearl black, the bottom color........

Registered

Well everything's sanded and ready for paint. Pulled it out of the shop to give it one last good bath to get any dirt, dust off. Letting it dry off good over the weekend and begin to tape it all up Monday.

Added some close ups with the side moldings and rocker panels removed, the gray dots on the hood are spot primer I put on over the rock chips.

Registered

Have to agree with Himbeiss. The door handle cove will be very difficult to get an even spray into with the handle still in place. Also consider removing the metal trim strips in the bumpers. Actually bumper removal is relatively simple and this will also allow a better spray in the joint area between the bumper and the fenders.

Registered

Registered

No pics today but everything is taped up and ready to go. Tomorrow we plan on shooting the trunk lid, mirror covers, body side moldings, rocker panels, cowl and the door handles. After painting the little stuff all that's left is the body minus the roof that was done last week.

BTW I have new grill with the star in it like a C Class,the star hood emblem is removed for the flat MB badge as its called, new chrome trim rings for the headlights and all new trunk emblems.

Go to page

BenzWorld.org forum is one of the largest Mercedes-Benz owner websites offering the most comprehensive collection of Mercedes-Benz information anywhere in the world. The site includes MB Forums, News, Galleries, Publications, Classifieds, Events and much more!